Racial/Ethnic Disproportionality in Special Education

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Racial/Ethnic Disproportionality in Special
Education
Metropolitan Center for Urban Education

• Measuring Disproportionality and Using the Data
  Analysis Workbook
• Presenter Roey Ahram
• TACD Project Associate

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Objectives

• Introduction to the NYU/NYSED-VESID Technical
  Assistance Center on Disproportionality (TACD)
  and the Data Analysis Toolkit
• The definition of disproportionality
• Methods of data analysis
• Levels of data analysis
• How to use the Data Analysis Toolkit (overview)
• Practice using the Data Analysis Toolkit

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Disproportionality Is

• The over-representation of specific groups in
  special education programs in relation to their
  representation in the overall enrollment, and/or
  the under-representation of specific groups in
  accessing intervention services, resources,
  programs, rigorous curriculum and instruction.

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Disproportionality Occurs When students are

• Under-represented in intervention services,
  resources, and access to programs, rigorous
  curriculum and instruction.
• Inappropriately referred and classified for
  special education.

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Methods of Data Analysis

• Three main data tools (calculations) are used to
  explore special education data classification
  rate, composition index, and relative risk ratio.

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Classification Rate

• The classification rate identifies at what rate,
  or percentage of risk, students of a particular
  racial/ethnic group have of being classified as
  students with disabilities.

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Composition Index

• The composition index gives the proportion of
  students by race/ethnicity in a particular
  situation. Composition indexes are used to
  determine if a particular group is over or under
  represented in special education, in a particular
  disability, or in a particular classroom setting.
  

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Relative Risk Ratios

• Relative risk ratios give a comparison of risk
  for classification of one group in relation to
  the risk for all other groups. A risk ratio of 1
  indicates that there is equal risk. An increase
  in risk ratio is indicative of increased risk.

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Initial Levels of Special-Education Data Analysis
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How to Use the Toolkit (Overview) Data
Requirements District / School Data

• In order to work through the toolkit you need to
  have the following data
• General education enrollment by race and gender
• Special education enrollment by race and gender,
  classification, and placement.
• It is critical the general and special education
  enrollment data reflect the same school years a
  lack in consistency prevents appropriate
  analysis.

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How to Use the Toolkit (Overview) Working with
the Data

• Using your data, input your values into the
  appropriate cells and follow the calculation
  procedures.
• Be sure to record all of your answers in the
  appropriate cells.

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How to Use the Toolkit (Overview)Examining your
results

• After inputting and running the formulas in each
  section, it is important to examine the results
  critically.
• Write down what you noticed.
• What patterns are emerging and what possible
  problems are becoming apparent?
• Attempt to explain your findings (what you have
  noticed) in the context of the data and current
  research.
• What are the possible explanations for your
  findings?
• Pay close attention to the research notes,
  critical thoughts, and critical questions to help
  aid in your analysis.

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Level 1 Overall Classification

• Question 1 What is the overall district
  classification rate?

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Overall Classification

• Classification Rate
• Number SWD divided by Total number of students
• x 100
• Classification Rate
• ______________ x 100 _____

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Examining your results

• What did you notice?
• What patterns are emerging and what possible
  problems are becoming apparent?

• Critical Analysis
• What are the possible explanations for your
  findings?

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Level 2 Classification Rates, Compositions
Indexes, and Risk Ratios by Race/Ethnicity

• Question 2 What is the overall classification
  rate of SWD by race/ethnicity?

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Classification of SWD by Race/Ethnicity
Black Hispanic White Asian Total
A. Observed SWD classified classified classified classified Total classified
B. Total Enrollment enrolled enrolled enrolled enrolled Total enrolled
C. observed A/B x 100 A/B x 100 A/B x 100 A/B x 100 A/B x 100

• Classification Rate
• Number of SWD in a racial/ethnic group divided by
  Total number of students in the same
  racial/ethnic group multiplied by 100
• Classification Rate
• ______________ x 100 _____

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Classification of SWD by Race/Ethnicity
Black Hispanic White Asian Total
A. Observed SWD 500 225 75 80 880
B. Total Enrollment 1500 900 1700 800 4900
C. observed A/B x 100 A/B x 100 A/B x 100 A/B x 100 A/B x 100

• Classification Rate
• Number of SWD in a racial/ethnic group divided by
  Total number of students in the same
  racial/ethnic group multiplied by 100
• Classification Rate
• ______________ x 100 _____

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Examining your results

• What did you notice?
• What patterns are emerging and what possible
  problems are becoming apparent?

• Critical Analysis
• What are the possible explanations for your
  findings?

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Level 2 Classification Rates, Compositions
Indexes, and Risk Ratios by Race/Ethnicity

• Question 3 What is the racial/ethnic composition
  of SWD compared to the racial/ethnic composition
  of the entire district?

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Composition of SWD by Race/Ethnicity

• Composition Index
• Number of SWD in a racial group divided by Total
  number of SWD multiplied by 100
• Composition Index
• ______________ x 100 _____

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Composition of SWD by Race/Ethnicity
Observed Composition Index of District
Black Hispanic White Asian Total
Total Enrollment A enrolled B enrolled C enrolled D enrolled E Total enrolled
F. District Composition A/E x 100 B/E x 100 C/E x 100 D/E x 100
Observed Composition Index of SWD in District
Black Hispanic White Asian Total
SWD Enrollment A enrolled B enrolled C enrolled D enrolled E Total enrolled
G. SWD Composition A/E x 100 B/E x 100 C/E x 100 D/E x 100
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Composition of SWD by Race/Ethnicity
Observed Composition Index of District
Black Hispanic White Asian Total
Total Enrollment A 1500 B 900 C 1700 D 800 E 4900
F. District Composition A/E x 100 B/E x 100 C/E x 100 D/E x 100
Observed Composition Index of SWD in District
Black Hispanic White Asian Total
SWD Enrollment A 500 B 225 C 75 D 80 E 880
G. SWD Composition A/E x 100 B/E x 100 C/E x 100 D/E x 100
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Examining your results

• What did you notice?
• What patterns are emerging and what possible
  problems are becoming apparent?

• Critical Analysis
• What are the possible explanations for your
  findings?

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Level 2 Classification Rates, Compositions
Indexes, and Risk Ratios by Race/Ethnicity

• Question 4 How much more likely is it that a
  student from a given ethnic/racial group will be
  identified with a disability?

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Relative Risk Ratio

• We utilize measures of Risk to answer questions
  about the likelihood of students in a given
  racial/ethnic group being classified and placed
  in special education.
• A Relative Risk Ratio (Risk Ratio) is a
  comparison of the relative risks of a particular
  racial/ethnic group compared to the relative
  risks of the remaining racial/ethnic groups.

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Relative Risk Ratio (Cont.)

• Using Relative Risk Ratios we are able to answer
  questions of how much more likely is it that a
  student from a particular racial or ethnic group,
  in a given setting, will receive a certain
  classification and or placement than will
  students from all other racial and ethnic groups
  in the setting.
• If a particular racial or ethnic groups Risk
  Ratio is 2.0, it means that students from that
  racial or ethnic group are twice as likely to
  receive a certain classification than other
  students.
• If a particular racial or ethnic groups Risk
  Ratio is 1.0, it means that students from that
  racial or ethnic group are equally likely to
  receive a certain classification as other
  students
• If a particular racial or ethnic groups Risk
  Ratio is .50, it means that students from that
  racial or ethnic group are less than half as
  likely to receive a certain classification as
  other students.

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Relative Risk Ratio Formulas

• Relative Risk Ratio
• Relative Risk Ratio

• Relative Risk Ratio
• Relative Risk Ratio

Hispanic SWD Enrollment Total Hispanic
Enrollment
Black SWD Enrollment Total Black Enrollment
________________________________
________________________________
All other SWD Enrollment All other Enrollment
All other SWD Enrollment All other Enrollment
White SWD Enrollment Total White Enrollment
Asian SWD Enrollment Total Asian Enrollment
________________________________
________________________________
All other SWD Enrollment All other Enrollment
All other SWD Enrollment All other Enrollment
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Relative Risk Ratio Formulas

• Black Risk Ratio
• (Black SWD Black enrollment) (Total SWD
  Black SWD) (Total enrollment Black
  enrollment) ______ risk
• Hispanic Risk Ratio
• (Hispanic SWD Hispanic enrollment) (Total
  SWD Hispanic SWD) (Total enrollment
  Hispanic enrollment) ______ risk
• White Risk Ratio
• (White SWD White enrollment) (Total SWD
  White SWD) (Total enrollment White
  enrollment) ______ risk
• Asian Risk Ratio
• (Asian SWD Asian enrollment) (Total SWD
  Asian SWD) (Total enrollment Asian
  enrollment) _____ risk

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Relative Risk Ratio Example

• Black Risk Ratio
• (Black SWD Black enrollment) (Total SWD
  Black SWD) (Total enrollment Black
  enrollment) ______ risk
• (500 1500) (880 500) (4900 1500)
• (0.3333) (380) (3400)
• (0.3333) (0.1118)

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Examining your results

• What did you notice?
• What patterns are emerging and what possible
  problems are becoming apparent?

• Critical Analysis
• What are the possible explanations for your
  findings?

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Questions

• Roey Ahram
• New York University
• Metropolitan Center for Urban Education
• Technical Assistance Center on Disproportionality
• ra977_at_nyu.edu